The financing vehicles have been in place for several years now for a borrower using some creativity with a seller to make 100% financing possible. However, the real estate market had been so hot in many areas in the U.S. the sellers did not have to even entertain anything resembling creative financing. With a softening market, creative financing is back as a helpful tool to allow sellers to unload their properties as long as an over supply of inventory exists.

Harold and Laura had been renting a home in a suburban area for three years. They had been digging out from under a heavy debt load of medical collections. Laura was leaving work one day and a truck had crossed the line and pinned her in her small car for a half an hour until the jaws-of-life was used to extract her out from her crushed vehicle. With a broken hip, ankle, eye socket and fibula a long recovery ensured and Laura was not able to work for two years. The other driver was at fault, but any financial recovery was years down the road as the other insurance company was playing hardball. In the meantime, with constant harassment for the out standing medical bills and the weight of credit card and installment debt that existed prior to the accident was just overwhelming. Harold had been working two jobs just to meet the basic family needs. Family help was limited and really wasn’t expected. Laura’s therapy had been going on for a year now and real progress was being made. Her employer had kept her job open as a customer service representative ironically at a credit card service center. The benefits were limited and very little of the medical bills and rehab had been covered. Harold and Laura had been seeking some financial advice from a local bankruptcy attorney. It was decided that with their level of income and huge medical bills that filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy action might be the best thing to do for mental sanity and cash flow. A Chapter 13-payback plan would be crippling for many years to come. As the bankruptcy attorney explained to Harold and Laura that in his practice example after example comes before him where just bad things happen to good people and that there was no shame in taking care of their financial affairs in this manner. The rationalization process followed.

Two months before filing the bankruptcy, the insurance company was offering a small settlement based on an allegation that Laura may have temporarily been distracted by talking on her cell phone and thus reduced her reaction time. Rather than put up a long protracted fight Harold and Laura, for better or worse settled for an amount that just covered her payoff on her totaled car. They were relieved of that installment. Their attorney for the accident urged them not to settle, but with Laura’s eminent recovery and the stress of the whole ordeal, they grabbed what they could at the time.

Harold and Laura received their notice of the Final Discharge of their Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. All the collections for medical bills, non-secured credit cards and one major medical bill that had resulted in a judgement being awarded for the first responding hospital had all been wiped out. They excluded their family car from the Bankruptcy matrix (which names all the debtors), which still had a $6,850 balance with a $295/month payment remaining. They also excluded a credit card that they had for years and had a low balance and a low monthly payment. This allowed Harold and Laura to maintain two trade lines and their on time rental payment of some $1,250/month outside the Bankruptcy action. Laura had now been back to work at her old job for two weeks. She was fortunate to take advantage of a car pool with a fellow worker who lived a half mile away.

It was like the world had been lifted off their shoulders. Now Harold and Laura had their rent, one car payment and a small credit card and their home utilities. The cell phone service had gone by the way side many months before.

Even through the most brutal times and the lowest of the low, Harold and Laura, as their custom, visited Open Houses after church every Sunday. It was always in the neighborhood and never more than two home visitations. It was Harold and Laura’s way to cope with the dark cloud that had beset them. During this process, they became familiar with a local Realtor who took a very personal interest in their situation. The Realtor, named Betty, knew they were not ready to do anything until some things had been handled. At the most recent Open House visit, Harold and Laura shared that they had put their financial challenges behind them. Laura was feeling great and off all her pain medication. Betty raised the prospect and questioned them if she could figure out a way to get them into a home at a little more than they were paying in rent with little or no money out of pocket, would they have an interest at least in hearing more about it. Harold raised his hands with palms up and a shrug of the shoulders, and shared that it wouldn’t hurt to listen to some possibilities. The accident had caused a detour in the quest to own a home, but it had not killed their dream.

Betty set up a meeting with the Realtor’s in-house mortgage broker to discuss their options. A joint credit report was pulled and as Harold at the time made the most money his middle score was utilized to qualify for a mortgage. His middle credit score was right at 500. The mortgage broker went on to explain that they would qualify for an 85% Loan To Value mortgage. Due to their lack of a cash down payment, it was added, that the only way that they could use this loan option would be with a seller held second of 15% loan to value with the seller also paying up to 6% of the contract selling price. This would then give them a 100% Combined Loan To Value (CLTV). The loan would need to be a Fully Documented loan with verification for employment and income. The mortgage broker felt like he could present Laura’s employment gap due to the accident and use her current income for qualifying purposes. Totaling up the income versus the debts, it was determined that Harold and Laura could buy a home in the $175,000 range IF the seller would offer reasonable terms on the 2nd mortgage. Betty piped in that she had been sitting on a listing for six months and the owner now may have an interest in holding some paper versus renting the property again and deal with the tenant challenges on repairs and upkeep. The home was close to their current residence.

Betty was able to work out the deal with reasonable terms on the second mortgage that would keep the overall monthly payment down at least for the first three years. As the mortgage broker explained, that should be plenty of time to establish a better credit history and qualify for a lower interest rate loan in two years. As an added bonus, the seller agreed to pay all the closing costs and prepaid expenses such as annual hazard insurance and tax escrows plus replacing a leaky roof. Harold and Laura moved into their newly purchased home putting all the travails of the past in the rear view mirror.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. In this current real estate market, there are creative possibilities. It won’t last forever; the time is at hand for seller help and creative financing.

Dale Rogers

www.sellerhelpsbuyer.com

www.brokencredit.com

Who can I report this email to…
Dear friend,

How are you and your family? Hope all is well.

My name is Sgt. Barry Maurice Jones; I am an American
soldier, serving in the military with the army’s 3rd
infantry division. With a very desperate need for
assistance, I have summed up courage to contact you.

I found your contact particulars in an address journal on
the internet. I am seeking your kind assistance to move the
sum of US$8m (eight million United States dollars) to you ;
as far as I can be assured that my share will be safe in
your care until I complete my service here.

Source of money:

Some money in US dollars were discovered in dog kennels at a
farm house and guest houses in an estate near one of
Saddam’s old palaces in Baghdad, Iraq during an operation,
and it was agreed by Staff Sgt. Kenneth Buff, Sgt. 1st Class
Daniel Van Ess and I that some part of this money be shared
amongst us before informing anybody about it. Since both of
them saw the money first, they did the informing, while I
played the outsider to protect our interest. This was quite
an illegal thing to do, but I tell you what? No compensation
can make up for the risk we have taken with our lives in
this hell hole, in which my brother in-law was killed by a
road side bomb last time. You will find the story of this
money on the web addresses below:

http://www.right-thoughts.us/index.php/weblog/comments/the_first_thing_you_know_ol_saddams_a_millionaire/

The above figure was given to me as my share, and to conceal
this kind of money became a problem for me, even after the
initial probe of all soldiers of our command which I was
cleared from; so with the help of a British contact working
here and his office enjoy some immunity, I was able to get
the package out to a safe location entirely out of trouble
spot. He does not know the real contents of the package, and
believes that it belongs to a British/American medical
doctor who died in a raid here in Iraq, and before giving
up, trusted me to hand over the package to his family in
United States. I have now found a much secured way of
getting the package out of Iraq to the country for you to
pick up, and I will discuss this with you when I am sure
that you are willing to assist me, and I believe that my
money will be well secured in your hand because you have the
fear of God.

I want you to tell me how much you will take from this money
for the assistance you will give to me. One passionate
appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this matter with
anybody, should you have reasons to reject this offer,
please and please destroy this message as any leakage of
this information will be too bad for us soldier’s here in
Iraq and tarnish the reputation of other services men. I do
not know how long we will remain here, and I have been shot,
wounded and survived two suicide bomb attacks by the special
grace of God, this and other reasons I will mention later
has prompted me to reach out for help, I honestly want this
matter to be resolved immediately, please contact me as soon
as possible with my non-service private email address which
is for now my only way of communication until I specify
otherwise –
you can reach me on sgtbmjones@gmail.com

God bless you and your family.

Sgt. Barry Maurice Jones

sgtbmjones@yahoo.com.hk
Ohhhh I didnt answer it, but I reported it to yahoo and marked it as spam and I still get everyday from “him”
Im not stupid, I would never give anyone any info. I just want the damn emails to stop…no matter what I do I just keep getting them…

Kurdistan will become independent country said mr Sahit Muja the President of Albanian Minerals in New York. Mr Muja said “The Kurds are the world’s largest non-state nation. The population of Kurdish people is estimated at 40 million, one of the largest ethnic group in the Middle East. The majority live in Turkey, Iran, Syria Iraq and Kurdistan”.

Sahit Muja said “Kurdish populations are scattered throughout western and central Asia. Large Kurdish population have emigrated in EU countries specially in Germany, France, Italy, UK, Greece, In last 30 years large Kurdish population have emigrated in The USA, Canada and Latin America also Dubai, Qatar in Australia, New Zealand, and other countries”.

Sahit Muja said “According to historical and archaeological evidence, the region was the site of the world’s earliest agrarian societies, cities, and states, all of which coexisted uneasily in a web of antagonisms that were rooted in cleavages based on class, empire, ethnicity, religion, race, and gender”.

“The landscape in Kurdistan is full of ancient irrigation networks to bridges and citadels, side by side with evidence of the ongoing destruction of life and property through conquest, wars, massacres, and forced population movements Kurdistan was the scene of devastation, genocide and war, Millions of Kurds have being killed by different empires and regimes”.

Sahit Muja said “Kurdistan now a promising territory with fastest growing population in the world, rich natural resources and huge Kurdish population living out of Kurdistan. Kurdistan was seen as a source of threats to its neighbors specially Turkey and Iran. Kurdistan is now the gateway to the rest of Iraq and the indispensable link for trade between the nations in the region.
Kurdish territory’s is very rich in natural resources”

Sahit Muja said”Kurdistan’s economy is expanding even faster than Iraq’s overall annual growth rate of 7 – 8% . Kurdistan is developing infrastructure , roads, agriculture, energy industry and tourism. Kurdistan now is one of fastest growing economy in the world with construction and real estate boom in all areas where Kurds live.
The Kurdistan region of Iraq is a geological extension of the world’s richest petroleum fairway, which extends from Saudi Arabia to Kurdistan. It is estimated to have around 50 – 100 billion barrels of oil reserves making it one of largest in the world.
Do to political conflicts, the resources in Kurdistan have been essentially untapped in natural resources”.

Sahit Muja said “The population is 7.6 million. These numbers exclude the Kurds living in the disputed provinces such as Ninawa,www.ekurd.netKirkuk and Diyala as well as Kurds living in Arab Iraq. Kurdistan has a young population with an estimated 45% of the population being under the age of 15. Most Kurds live in the large cities such as Erbil and Sulaimaniyah.
The ethnic make-up of Kurdistan is diverse and includes Assyrian Christians, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs next to the Kurdish majority. The Kurds make up around 95% of Kurdistan with the remaining 5% including the minority groups”.

Friday, September 29, 2006 — Time: 10:16:27 AM EST

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Mother seeks $100 million in son’s death

By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The mother of a man killed in a triple homicide last year plans to sue the federal government for $100 million, court documents state.

Sandra Miller of Altoona is the mother of Stephen Heiss, who died Aug. 28, 2005.

Miguel Padilla was convicted and received death sentences this month for killing Alfred Mignogna, owner of the United Veterans Association building; Fredrick Rickabaugh Sr., UVA doorman; and Heiss, a patron.

The jury wasn’t told that Padilla is an illegal alien.

The civil lawsuit notice, filed by attorney Art Cohen of Hollidaysburg, blames the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for allowing Padilla to remain in the United States.

Padilla, 27, came to America as a young boy with his mother and brothers to escape an alcoholic father.

He graduated from Penn Cambria High School but never became a U.S. citizen.

He was involved in a stabbing incident in which the victim was his then-father-in-law.

ICE never took Padilla into custody or attempted to deport him.

U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th District, spoke of the case on the House floor, saying ICE did nothing about Padilla.

Most of the money sought is for punitive damages because the government did not take any action that could have prevented the homicides.

An attorney with ICE declined comment Wednesday. ICE has asked Cohen to provide it with more details concerning the Padilla case.

Property Transactions: July 12, 2010
These property transactions were filed with the Saratoga County Clerk’s Office from June 24 to July 1 and Washington County Clerk’s Office from July 2 to July 9. Property transactions list seller, buyer and transfer tax. Specific addresses are supplied when available. The following are listed by town in the form of seller, buyer and purchase price.

Read more on The Saratogian

The Nigerian judicial system in spite of the accolades it has generated recently needs reforms to help it move forward. This very sector like others in the country is still sailing in the wrong direction.

The problem of the nation’s judiciary begins with law practice as its actors are often boldly arrogant and full of proud to the society in which they are expected to exhibit intellect and learnedness in reducing challenges. It may be rightly argued that lawyers are not the cause of the nation’s problems but wrong too to conclude that they don’t aid such problems that grow bigger than the nation. Lawyers’ main concern nowadays appears to help obvious perpetrators of evils in our society get justice only to relapse again and again. It is sad to note that even when offenders privately confess to our lawyers, these lawyers go ahead to borrow them excuses to present to the court just because of money.

So many more things are wrong with the Nigerian lawyers who are always in a hurry to take matters that ordinarily should have been sorted out at home to the highest court. You become their client as soon as you present them with what you think is wrong or how you think you have been offended. He never believes that a client can be counseled or made to understand that he is wrong in the matter he is pursuing. The implications are therefore the acquisition of family lawyers to pursue matters that would waste the magistrate’s time and threat of seeking redress in the court even when one is obviously in the wrong.

Every well trained lawyer should posses the tactfulness to deal with issues between two or more persons and bring about peace thus reserve time, efforts and energy of taking up a matter he may never wish to conclude in the first place. Because the lawyers are ever desperate to take matters to court, he often ends up sentencing innocent persons to court. Where is his conscious when he has received gratifications and ready to charge more legal fees? Magistrate’s and judges have on many occasions wondered why certain trivial issues that would ended at the desk of a solicitor or even at the police station be brought before him when there are many urgent and pressing issues to be treated.

It is for this reason that many cases taken to our courts are abandoned by even the one who took such matter to the court. The richer could than just drag an unsuspecting poorer person to court all to teach him a lesson by making spend huge sums of amount or because e has been advised to prove a point by his advocate. Sometimes you wonder whether a lawyer will ever tell you the truth. Court injunctions become the easiest means of killing other people’s opinion. The situation is now that many of these lawyers often abandon matters to which they have been granted injunctions because they are satisfied having proved the point of what they are capable of doing.  As we know it lawyers never accept fallibility. When he wins a matter, he hails the court and when he loses, he begrudges the judge and sees the areas not deeply looked into.

Call your lawyer and inform him on the date of your matter, his reply will unpleasantly beat you. He tells that he doesn’t have enough money to fuel his car to the court. Obviously you begin to understand that he is tired of taking up your matter because it does not generate sufficient money from you to him.

Adjournment is an instrument of waste of time with which a lawyer stalls for time to cause their victims harms. The Nigerian judiciary has not found any solution to this problem eating up that arm of the government. Every lawyer in way likes it but hates to experience it. It is this adjournment that makes a suspect spend many years in jail awaiting or going through endless trials.

He tells you he is learned while you are merely educated but a lot of them shy away from going to courts because there is a new profession called estate management. In Nigeria, Estate surveyors and Valuers and Real Estate Agents are on their knees begging lawyers to allow them practice their rightful profession but a lawyer tells you he is more learned and honest to be entrusted with the profession. But does he conduct valuation of properties? Many lawyers now sit under the trees waiting to rent out single rooms while also avoiding going to the courtrooms.

When a lawyer acts on behalf of their clients in a landlord and tenant matter he is likely to worsen the situation that could have been solved by hurriedly showing the tenant the road to court in a proceeding that could last for more than 2 years before judgment is secured. Te objective of the lawyer in this case is to enable the landlord forfeit his rents for the period that the trial lasts. Usually, tenants abandon the property before the end of such matters are seen leaving his rents unpaid. The landlord well gracefully accepts the situation at least he has his property to rent out to another tenant.

The implication of this again is that an impecunious tenant could use a lawyer as an instrument of delay and avoid the payment of his rent until he moves out of the property on a night taking the landlord unaware. This development is a bad one and needs to be addressed if we are genuinely interested in instilling national morality in our people.

“Get in,” I said to my younger brother Kevin (who was just 5 or 6 years old at the time) after we pulled his red wagon to the top of a long, steep road that ended in front of our house. “Use the handle to steer. Jason and I will push you down the hill until we can’t keep up. Just stay in the middle of the road and don’t hit the sidewalk.”

It seemed like a good idea at the time. But I didn’t think about how to stop. I didn’t check the wheels to make sure they were secure. Nobody looked at the handle or the bolts that fastened the axle to the frame. I didn’t think about cars, rocks, or the trouble I’d be in after he crashed either. I didn’t have a plan. Instead, like any other kid, I focused on the initial activity to accomplish our goal: to have fun.

Unfortunately, more often than not, this is true for real estate investors as well. Although we may define it differently, our goal is to still “have fun.” We’re all pursuing financial independence, working to acquire greater wealth for ourselves and our families. As investors, the plan is not as simple as checking the handlebar and wheels on a wagon. There are many moving pieces to consider.

Effective Due Diligence

Jim Rohn said, “We can no more afford to spend major time on minor things than we can to spend minor time on major things.” Many real estate investors enjoy the thrill of hunting down and negotiating their next investment. I’m one of them. At least to me, that’s the most exciting part of investing.

Good negotiations require thorough due diligence. Most investors do very little due diligence. Many simply verify the rent roll, do a physical inspection, make a few adjustments to an operating report and call it good. Then they close on the property and wonder why they struggle with it for the first six months.

Due diligence is so much more than that. Investors who understand it are the envy of those who don’t. If you do an effective due diligence before you buy you’ll make better investment decisions. Makes sense, right? And, if you do an effective due diligence before you sell, you’ll sell at a higher price too. If that’s true, why do so many investors struggle with due diligence today?

There are two main reasons. First, nobody showed them what to look for. Nobody gave them a list of questions. Nobody explained why to ask questions. Due diligence is not all that difficult if you have a plan covering “all” aspects of investing. (No single checklist covers everything.) However, due diligence should cover these nine specific categories:

1. Books and records
2. Financials
3. Physical inspection
4. Marketing
5. Management team
6. Operations and system management
7. Competition
8. Residents
9. Legal issues

The second reason many investors struggle with due diligence is time. It can be difficult to cover these issues when the seller or their agent pushes you to make a decision in seven to fourteen days on smaller properties and 30 days on larger acquisitions. Let’s be honest, that’s not a lot of time. Why do they do that?

It’s simple: time kills transactions. Nobody wants to wait for you to make your decision. That means they’ll press you to make it sooner than you probably should. Sellers and agents know that without a sense of urgency, your depleted desire to own the property will show in the price. They know that our excitement and enthusiasm for an investment is at its highest level early in the game. That emotion can spell disaster for investors, usually to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars or more. Can it be done in seven days? Sometimes, if you have all your ducks in a row and you spend the time necessary to get the answers you need. But more often than not, investors make premature decisions that result in more operational issues than they care to deal with when they finally close and take over the property.

The Management Plan

Like a business plan, the management plan is your roadmap to get you where you want to go. Due diligence is a necessary component of your overall management plan. Remember, you can’t spend minor time on major things. Owning a real estate investment, especially rental property, is no minor thing.

Some investors rely on a management company to build and carry out a management plan. They think that’s what they’re paying the management company to do. That’s just not the case. Although most can and will prepare what they believe to be an ideal budget, I haven’t found a management company anywhere in the country that cares as much about the property and its operations as the owner.

Whether you hire a management company or onsite manager to help you with the day-to-day operations of the investment or you do it yourself, the management plan falls squarely on your shoulders. Isn’t that exciting? One more thing for you to do! Owning property is just like any other business. Set expectations and follow-up. If you manage the property yourself, you’ll find it much easier to carry out the activities outlined in your plan to help you accomplish your dreams and goals. Here are just a few things to consider:

• Role, responsibilities and authority of the management company
• Personnel policy and staffing structure
• Marketing plans and procedures
• Leasing, rent collection, and occupancy standards
• Lease termination and eviction process
• Operating budget and forecast
• Income analysis
• Physical appearance analysis
• Expense analysis
• Accounting and reporting procedures/expectations
• Management training programs
• Management compensation

The management plan could encompass much more depending on how detailed you want to get. But it doesn’t need to be overly difficult; it just needs to clearly define the expectations and activities necessary to get you where you want to go.

The nice thing about money is that it’s indifferent. It doesn’t care who holds it. If you’re not where you want to be; if you don’t have what you want or think you need to live the life you want to live at this very moment, I have really good news. You’re not a tree. That means you’re not stuck where you are. That is good news, isn’t it? You really can have it all.

There’s nothing magical about investing in real estate. There’s no mysterious, closely held secret that will make you millions more than the investor sitting next to you. Successful investors consistently apply basic real estate fundamentals over and over again. They can all be learned. If you have the desire, commitment, and discipline to carry out the techniques investors have used for many years you’ll accomplish your goals faster than you ever thought possible. That’s what we all want. Anyone can do it, and you can too. Most investors are looking for specific strategies to help them maximize returns and the good news is those strategies exist. Taking the time to plan and strategize can save you thousands and make you millions. You don’t want to end up racing down a steep hill in a little red wagon-just ask my little brother.

Petraeus noncommittal on Afghan deadline
Gen. David Petraeus left open the possibility of recommending that President Barack Obama delay his plans to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan next summer. Afghanistan - War in Afghanistan - David Petraeus - Asia - Stanley McChrystal

Read more on MSNBC

Large building complexes like offices, housing apartments, malls, multiplexes, which have changed the urbanscape, do not have any mandatory inspections to ensure that building plans and fire safety norms are in place, says
Vivek Shukla

The avoidable tragedy at Carlton Towers in Bangalore on February 23 has once again highlighted the sheer apathy of agencies that look after the safety aspect of our buildings.
The investigation into the Carlton Towers tragedy has revealed that the magnitude of the tragedy could have been worse as the terrace was stocked with 1,000 liters of diesel. And before Carlton Towers, another shocking incident took place close to Bangalore on January 26, where a building under construction collapsed, killing 27 people – this too has brought into sharp focus several chinks and lacunae in safety norms followed in the building construction industry. Even as investigations are going on in both these cases, experts admit that violation of building plans is normal looking at the state of other buildings under construction.
Large building complexes like offices, housing apartments, malls, multiplexes, which have changed the urbanscape, do not have any mandatory inspections to ensure that the building plans and fire safety norms are in place.
Some say that developers deviate even up to 10% from the sanctioned plan in many of these buildings. Violations through non-installation of fire equipment, congested staircases, and entry to the main building from basement, narrow entry roads and absence of trained personnel to tackle emergencies are major causes of concern in all highrise buildings.
Brushing aside all these allegations on developers, R K Arora, CMD of Supertech Group, says that it is not at all true that developers ignore the guidelines of National Building Code (NBC) in order to earn more. Realtors are providing all the essential safety measure in their projects and they also have a team of highly qualified professionals to take care of all the construction work as per the norms set by the NBC, he avers.
Echoing these thoughts, Ajmal Zaheer Khan of Kothari Associates, said that no realtor with any standing in the market could afford to overlook safety measures in buildings. He made it clear that they should work on this aspect every time and all the time.
Some say that another factor that compromises building safety is the extensive use of filtered sand in many structures. As this is not of good quality and does not have a binding nature, tragedy is waiting to happen in many constructions everywhere.
And, for various reasons, civic authorities have been found wanting in ensuring that the buildings are constructed as per building bylaws and the NBC.
A study conducted not long ago by a consumer organization in Mumbai and Gujarat looked at 18 housing projects, comprising 4,500 units, constructed by private and government agencies. Predictably, findings spoke of gross violation of building bylaws, use of substandard materials, and inadequate/ nil technical supervision. Residents speak of damp roofs, peeling plaster, faulty wiring, leaky taps, corroded reinforcement, splintered windows and vibrating parapets. Most of the users had to replace shutters and fixtures of the joinery within a short time.
Another disturbing trend that is gaining ground is that, now, priority is given to elegance and aesthetics, and safety in building construction is given a go by. “It is really very unfortunate that priority is given to elegance and aesthetics, and not to safety of the buildings,” rues Nazma Rizvi, formerly of School of Planning and Architecture, adding, “I think some developers award contracts to builders on the basis of lowest quotation. Quality of construction takes a backseat. As a result, neither the materials nor the workmanship is tested as specified by the NBC.”
Quality shortfall can have lethal fallout. Realty market watcher, Devinder Gupta of Century 21 India, strongly feels that there is a possibility that some realtors in small towns play with the lives of people because they violate the norms of NBC, but that in big cities they cannot afford to take such a risk. One, Carlton-like incident completely ruins their reputation. No realtor can take this huge risk while constructing his building, he says.
“Absolutely,” says Sunil Jindal, CEO of SVP Developers, “Quality of construction has always been a top priority for established developers. Every contract awarded to a contractor invariably contains inspection and testing clause, on the basis of which it becomes mandatory for the contractor to undertake certain prescribed tests to ensure best quality construction.”
Some also say that, at least in some cases, developers also violate NBC in respect of materials, workmanship, size and height of rooms to be adopted for comfortable living, utilizing the latest developments in building designs and construction techniques. The situation can improve only when developers arrange for quality checking, either directly or through independent agencies.
Rajeev Rai, vice-president (Corporate) at Assotech Ltd, says that it is not at all fair to blame the entire community of developers for one or two incidents.
“Fact of the mater is that they see to it that inspection and testing procedures are followed at project sites. Their engineers at site also ensure that all inspection and testing is done as per the guidelines of NBC,” he says.
As far as National Building Code is concerned, it is a document containing standardized requirement for the design and construction of buildings in the country. Although codes may sometimes seem fuzzy, they are the result of years of experience and testing, says Rizvi.
Building codes exist to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare. It regulates building construction and building use in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the occupant. There cannot be any debate that all the stakeholders have to ensure that NBC is followed in letter and spirit so that the lives of innocent people are not put in danger.

Courtesy:- Times Property dt:- 06-Mar-2010

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Overdue mortgage leads to sledge hammer beating
When Ralph “Pete” Peterson of Spanish Springs saw a stranger taking photos of his house and suspected the man might have sinister motives, he confronted the person, who he said refused to identify himself.

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